Western Governors University Joins Open edX as a Mission-Aligned Organization

Western Governors University is the first organization to join the Open edX project as a "mission-aligned organization" (MAO), a new category of institution-level partnership supporting development of the Open edX open source online learning platform. In its role as a MAO, WGU will contribute guidance from senior leaders and provide a team of 10 engineers as well as product management services to help accelerate advances in the platform, Open edX explained in a news announcement.

In collaboration with the global open source community and project steward Axim Collaborative, WGU will help develop additional features and capabilities of Open edX, including building a roles and permissions framework, creating better facilities for extracting data, setting up libraries of atomic learning units, and improving the upgrade experience for developers. In particular, Open edX hopes to draw on WGU's expertise to better support the needs of competency-based education.

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with Western Governors University. WGU shares our commitment to opening educational pathways to better opportunities for all students," commented Edward Zarecor, vice president of engineering for the Open edX platform, Axim Collaborative, in a statement. "WGU's contributions will help extend the Open edX platform to better support competency-based learning pathways, mastery learning, and microcredentials. Together we strive to create real economic mobility for learners through affordable offerings. We can help millions more learners by openly sharing our expertise and software, fostering a vibrant ecosystem where everyone can thrive."

"Open edX is a highly scalable, open source technology platform that has enabled innovation and fast technology implementation that is crucial for our students' learning outcomes," said David Morales, senior vice president for technology and CIO at WGU, who is joining Open edX's Technical Oversight Committee to provide strategy support, including platform architecture design, tech stack, and design templates. "We are committed to supporting WGU students with high-quality learning experiences and are also pleased to support thousands of other organizations embracing competency-based learning, student-first approaches and solutions for documenting skills and credentials through our contributions to the Open edX project."

The Open edX project plans to add more MAOs as interest grows in shaping the platform's direction.

"We are delighted to see mission driven organizations come together to accelerate innovation around high impact solutions," said Ferdi Alimadhi, chief technology officer for Open Learning at MIT and member of the Technical Oversight Committee. "WGU's significant contribution will help all organizations leveraging the platform and continue to grow the Open edX ecosystem of contributors."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • open laptop in a college classroom with holographic AI icons like a brain and data charts rising from the screen

    4 Ways Universities Are Using Google AI Tools for Learning and Administration

    In a recent blog post, Google shared an array of education customer stories, showcasing ways institutions are using AI tools like Gemini and NotebookLM to transform both learning and administrative tasks.

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Launches Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has introduced a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.

  • three main icons—a cloud, a user profile, and a padlock—connected by circuit lines on a blue abstract background

    Report: Identity Has Become a Critical Security Perimeter for Cloud Services

    A new threat landscape report points to new cloud vulnerabilities. According to the 2025 Global Threat Landscape Report from Fortinet, while misconfigured cloud storage buckets were once a prime vector for cybersecurity exploits, other cloud missteps are gaining focus.

  • Stylized illustration showing cybersecurity elements like shields, padlocks, and secure cloud icons on a neutral, minimalist digital background

    Microsoft Announces Security Advancements

    Microsoft has announced major security advancements across its product portfolio and practices. The work is part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multiyear cybersecurity transformation the company calls the largest engineering project in company history.